Marconi Station & Alcock & Brown Landing Point 

Guided Field Trip led by Michael Gibbons, Walking Ireland

Sunday September 28 2025, 10.00 - 13.00   

Tickets €15 for adults / €10 Children/Students 

Booking via Eventbrite

Meet: Wild Atlantic Way, Signature Discovery Point, Derrigimlagh.

At the heart of Derrigimlagh Bog lies the historic Marconi Station the site of the world’s first transatlantic wireless transmission and the landing spot for the Alcock & Brown first transatlantic non-stop flight. In 1905, Guglielmo Marconi stood on this remote stretch of Connemara, envisioning electromagnetic waves traversing the Atlantic to Newfoundland, unhindered by distance or ocean. From this marshy red shore, he built the world’s largest and most powerful wireless station of its era, embedding his legacy in Ireland’s boglands. Walkers will have the opportunity to explore this unique and now unseen industrial landscape, hidden beneath the peat of Connemara.

Project credits 

For this Wild Atlantic Way, Signature Discovery Point, Denis Byrne Architects in association with TTT, thirtythreetrees, created a 5km looped walk, visitor experience at the Marconi Station, (1907-1922), and landing site of Alcock & Brown’s historic first non-stop transatlantic flight (1919). A series of ‘Hides’ have been installed, forming compact shelters containing interpretative content.

Architect: Denis Byrne Architects in Association with TTT (thirtythreetrees)
Awards: RIAI Irish Architecture Awards - Place of the Year, Winner 2017

A Day of Exploration: Sligo Town 

Architectural  Walking Tour

Sunday 28 September 2025, 11am - 12.30 

Meet at 11am on The Mall, at the gates of The Model’s Art Gallery

The walking tour will be led by former Senior Architect of Sligo County Council, Seán Martin. Seàn’s tour will focus on the architecture and significant streetscapes of Sligo on The Mall, Stephen St. and High St. 

Urban Sketching / Painting Event 

Sunday 28 September 2025, 2pm - 4pm

Meet at City Hall at 2pm

Sketchers, painters, dabbers and total beginners are invited to an afternoon of sketching in Sligo Town. High St., Stephen St and The Mall are suggested, but the choice is yours.  Sketching provides a wonderful way to look at and experience a place, it’s architecture, atmosphere and to consider the way the urban landscape has evolved.

All are invited to reconvene at 4pm at the Top Bar in The Glasshouse Hotel to review the Day’s experiences.

What to bring: Sketch books, pencils, pens, inks or paints, depending on your choice of medium. 

Also recommended: warm and waterproof clothing, hat, gloves, flasks of tea or coffee, perhaps a fold-up seat and a good umbrella.

NB indoor venues will be arranged, if weather should prevent external sketching. 

Omey Tidal Island

Guided Field Trip led by Michael Gibbons, Walking Ireland

Walk: Sunday September 28 2025, 14.00 – 17.00   

Tickets cost; Adult €15, Senior/Student €10

Booking via Eventbrite

Meet: Wild Atlantic Way, Signature Discovery Point, Derrigimlagh.

Omey Island, accessible on foot during low tide, reveals a landscape of rugged rocks, sweeping sands, and rich spiritual history. The island is home to secret monastic sites established by St. Féichín, whose Holy Well remains a place of reverence for local fishermen. Today, fewer than 20 residents inhabit Omey, yet the island’s archaeological sites suggest a once thriving community, shaped by centuries of change. The guided walk—spanning small roads, coastal stretches, and open beaches—lasts up to three hours and includes visits to the unseen sites and coastal archaeology exposed by winter storms.

Guide

Michael is a seasoned archaeologist with over 40 years of experience and membership in the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland. He has held roles on the Heritage Council’s Archaeology Committee and the Folklore of Ireland Council, worked internationally in Jerusalem and London, and contributed to major Irish archaeological surveys. As Co-Director of the National Sites and Monuments Record for a decade, he directed projects at sites like Croagh Patrick and Skellig Michael, and has written extensively on heritage management, promoting ICOMOS and UNESCO standards.

Galway’s ‘Slow Way’

Guided Field Trip led by Brendan Smith

Meet: Corrib Princess Quay, Waterside, Woodquay

Galway city is in many ways a nature walker’s paradise, possessing areas of tranquillity within natural heritage areas and countryside far from the noise and air pollution of one of Europe’s most traffic congested cities. Every city in Ireland would love to have the natural resources and rural landscapes that we still possess, namely the lakes, the rivers, the wildflower meadows, the bogs, the forests and farmlands. No other city has a major river running through it that still retains countryside on either side of its quiet blue waters.  

This event is about increasing public awareness particularly of the ‘Boreens’ (botharín = small road) of Menlo, Coolough, Castlegar, Ballindooley, Carrowbrowne and elsewhere which are precious gifts to the present and future generations from the rural dwellers of past centuries. These country lanes, many surrounded by drystone walls and hedgerows, that once were used to move cattle from field to field and to bring locals to distant church, school and shop, need to become the greenways of our modern city providing a network of green arteries uncluttered by built development offering places of peace and calmness to the urban traveller.

Guide

Brendan has been involved in multiple community, educational, social and environmental projects over many decades including as a founder member of Terryland Forest Park, Ireland’s largest community-driven urban forest project, in promoting local heritage preservation and greenways, in developing Outdoor Classrooms and in advocating for Galway to become a National Park City. He passionately believes that only by reconnecting with and learning from the rest of Nature can humanity solve the global crises of our era. 

Ceantar na nOileán 

Archaeological  Field Trip led by Michael Gibbons, Walking Ireland

Walk/Tour

Tuesday 30 September 2025, 9.00 – 17.00  

Tickets: Adult €35, Senior/Student €25

Lunch not Included

Booking via Eventbrite

Bus Departs from Galway Cathedral Gaol Rd bus stop. 

Lunch Stop: The field trip will include a lunch/coffee stop at Ionad Oidhreachta Leitir Mealláin, including a site visit and talk from a staff member.

Itinerary and Highlights

Ceantar na nOileán is an archipelago of fifteen islands connected by nine causeways, many now uninhabited, stretching from Béal an Daingin to Leitir Mealláin. The field trip offers an exploration of the area’s unique intertidal zone archaeology. The main islands are linked by a series of causeways built throughout the nineteenth century, each reflecting efforts to integrate this remote region into the broader Victorian society and economy.

Architectural Highlights

The nine causeways represent remarkable achievements in architecture and marine engineering, having replaced earlier networks of vernacular sub-sea crossings. Droichead an Daingin stands as one of the most impressive, connecting the mainland to Eanach Mhéaid. Adjacent to this is an older stone causeway, visible only at low tide, which marks one of the busiest quays on the islands. These hidden feats of architecture have been essential to the way of life and development in Ceantar na nOileán.

Culture and Spirituality

In addition to the built causeways, the area features a fascinating magico-religious landscape, centred around the unseen Sub-Sea Saints’ Roads, holy wells, and stone boats.